CHAPTER 20
Lois hummed nervously to herself as she rode in the back of the cab toward 344 Clinton Street. Beside her was a plain white bag containing the breakfast she had purchased from the corner shop by her apartment before she had hailed the taxi. After her last experience she knew that she could expect little in the way of food at Clark’s place. Besides, she told herself he might not need to eat, but he obviously liked to if their aborted breakfast from the other morning was any indication.
He didn’t need to eat.
The reality of that thought went through her mind for the second time and she noticed that the butterflies in her stomach that usually accompanied thoughts like that were less than before. Could she actually be getting used to this whole idea? No, she told herself, it was probably just the shock setting in.
“Stop it,” she said aloud, “you’re acting like a neurotic teenager.”
A slight movement caught her eye and when she glanced up into the rearview mirror to see the driver staring at her she realized that she had been talking to herself.
“What are you looking at?” she asked menacingly.
The man instantly dropped his eyes down and back toward the road. After a moment he cast a second glance at the mirror, but quickly jerked it away when he saw her still staring at him.
Satisfied that the matter had been settled Lois turned her thoughts back to her pending meeting with Clark. Should she make the first move? Why not? She’d asked men out before…hadn’t she? Oh, God, she said to herself. I can’t remember if I have or haven’t.
“No matter,” she said, “it’s not like it’s hard to do. I mean guys do it all the time.”
She suddenly realized that she had been talking out loud again and that the cab driver was again looking at her. She narrowed her eyes and drew her lips into a grim line.
“Didn’t we just go through th…”
Her comment was suddenly cut off as the cab swerved to get out of the way of the black police tactical van that screamed by with sirens blaring. It was followed swiftly by a second van and several police cars.
“Follow those cars,” Lois said switching thoughts without hesitation.
“You got it, Ms. Lane,” the driver said instantly as he accelerated to keep up with the vehicles in front.
Lois jerked her eyes back to meet the cabby’s in the rearview mirror.
“Do I know you?” she asked.
“Nah,” the man answered, “your picture is up down at headquarters. Boss says more cabs have been wrecked because of you than Hurricane Hugo. He said that the law requires us to transport you from point A to point B, but only that and nothing more. We’re supposed to refuse if you ever say…”
“Follow that car,” Lois continued for him.
“Exactly,” the man said grinning.
“Son of a…that explains the Willhoit case a few weeks ago,” Lois said shaking her head before suddenly looking back up. “So how come you’re not saying no?”
“The little pipsqueak docked me a day’s pay last week for calling in sick. Besides, safe is boring and how dangerous could it really be hanging out with you?”
The cab was suddenly rocked by an explosion as one of the police cars that had drawn up to a stop at the Metropolis Savings and Loan suddenly erupted into a fireball as it was tossed down the street. Its two occupants had only just vacated the vehicle and dove to either side to avoid the debris.
“That’s kind of a subjective question,” Lois answered as she tossed the wide-eyed driver some money and moved to get out of the now stopped cab. “Keep the change.”
Lois ran toward the line of police vehicles now ringing the bank, but was stopped short by an officer who jumped up from the concealment of his car and grabbed her arm pulling her down.
“Hey!” Lois exclaimed, “I’m with the press!”
“Lady,” the cop answered risking a quick glance over the hood of his car, “right now it doesn’t matter who you are. Unless you’re a cop, a crook, or a super hero you don’t need to be anywhere near here.”
Another police car suddenly exploded as it was hit by a bolt of energy fired from within the bank. The volley was instantly answered by the surrounding police who returned fire into the building.
“Or haven’t you noticed,” the officer continued, “that it’s a little bit dangerous right now.”
Lois’ answered died in her throat as she saw Maggie Sawyer stand and begin issuing orders for her Special Crimes Unit Squad to spread out around the building. While moments before the police had seemed outgunned as they matched conventional bullets against energy weapons, these officers were all decked out in high-tech gear and looked ready for anything.
“Maggie!” Lois screamed trying to get the woman’s attention. “What’s going on here?!”
The SCU leader turned toward the sound of her name being called and seemed to grimace and squeeze her eyes shut just for a moment as she identified Lois. She looked briefly back and forth between the bank and Lois and after a moment when no other weapons’ fire seemed to be forthcoming she ran toward the other woman.
“Ok, Lane,” she said as she skidded to a stop and dropped down behind the dubious protection of the police car, “how the hell do you do it? The bad guys have your pager number and let you know when they’re going to strike?”
“Reporter’s instinct,” Lois answered as she dug her mini-recorder out of her purse. “Now, what’s going on? Who are those guys and what do they want?”
“No clue,” Maggie answered. “They hit the bank hard this morning and took out a couple of civilian vehicles as they did it. We got the alarm and calls from witnesses at the same time. They started firing again when we got here.”
“No attempts to communicate?” Lois asked.
“Not so far,” Maggie answered. “Unless you count opening fire as communication.”
“No attempts to conceal their entry, no negotiations, armed with high-tech artillery, and all for a smash and grab at a major financial institution that isn’t even open for business right now.”
“That about sums it up,” Maggie said.
“And, it’s all done in Superman’s hometown,” Lois finished.
“Yep.”
“They’re either the stupidest crooks in the world or something’s up.”
Maggie looked at the younger woman for a second and then grabbed her radio.
“All units, hold your position. If Superman shows don’t let him enter that bank before I talk to him.”
“Too late Inspector,” someone radioed back. “He just got here.”
Maggie and Lois jumped up at the same time and turned toward the bank. Superman had just landed and was facing the bank. Instantly the men inside let loose a barrage of gunfire toward the colorful figure. It only took a couple of seconds for them to notice that their various energy beams and projectiles were bouncing off of his invulnerable skin and so they shifted their fire to the surrounding vehicles and police officers.
Superman quickly saw the danger and began moving at super speed deflecting the various bolts before they could do any harm. He then scanned the building and located his attackers. His X-ray vision identified the men inside as Intergang thanks to the presence of their leader. Slade Wilson was inside decked out in his paramilitary Orange and Midnight-blue costume and was at this moment placing a gun to the forehead of one of the bank’s security guards. Enough was enough he thought to himself and kicked it into high gear to end things before someone was hurt.
Superman came crashing through the wall of the bank and fired a burst of heat vision, which caught Wilson’s right hand and forced him to drop the gun he had aimed at the other man’s head. What happened next though did so with almost agonizing slowness as his super-fast brain processed information far quicker than his suddenly slowed reflexes could keep up with. Several things happened at once. He suddenly felt the searing pain of Kryptonite radiation as it cut into his body, he noticed the Kryptonite rocks next to each of the walls covering all possible entry points and lastly he became aware of the second gun Slade Wilson brought up in his left hand.
The bullet caught him in the right shoulder and slammed him back against the wall. He stumbled forward slightly as he rebounded from the wall and collapsed, catching himself on one knee to keep from falling. The pain was terrific. Most gunshot victims talk of the startling lack of pain as shock sets in almost immediately. In Superman’s case the radiation coming from all sides as well as the bullet that was now lodged in his shoulder kept every nerve in his body alive and on fire so he experienced the trauma from the gunshot wound fully.
Surprisingly, Superman saw that Wilson was holstering his gun rather than following up on his attack.
“I thought you’d never get here,” he said as he sprang forward and delivered a roundhouse kick that slammed the Man of Steel back into the wall behind him and dropped him to the floor. When he attempted to roll to his feet Wilson followed and sent a vicious kick into Superman’s stomach forcing the air from his lungs in a sudden burst and rolled him over.
“What?” Slade asked sarcastically. “No speeches or threats about what you’ll do now that you’ve found me?”
“…n-n-n-n-n…”
Slade kicked Superman’s shoulder wound and drew a short scream of agony from the injured man as he tried to move away.
“What? Are you trying to say something?” Slade asked laughing as he continued after the fallen man who had finally been able to rise up on his hands and knees.
“…n-n-n-n-n…”
“What was that Stupid-Man? Some profound comment?” Slade asked as he bent down close to taunt his victim.
“N-n-n-n-n-gnat!”
The super-fast, backhanded blow caught Slade under the jaw before his enhanced reflexes could even register that a punch had been thrown. Even weakened as he was by the Kryptonite, Superman’s blow was hard enough to knock Wilson off his feet and send him with a bone-jarring crash into the far wall.
Slade fell to the floor shaking his head to regain his senses. Damn, he thought to himself. He had gotten too cocky and forgotten the first rule of this business. Don’t get personally involved. That would be the death of him someday if he wasn’t careful. Time to end this. He regained his feet and pulled the Kryptonite loaded gun from his holster and brought it to bear on the Man of Steel just as he noticed the other man’s eyes begin to glow a bright red.
The outcome of the duel became moot at that point as suddenly the widows and doors blew apart with a loud detonation and a burst of bright light momentarily disoriented the Intergang gunmen. The Metropolis SCU hit the building like a Kansas twister following their flashbangs with immediate and deadly gunfire.
Intergang gunmen began to fall left and right before they could even recover from their disorientation and bring their guns to bear. Wilson’s enhanced reflexes and past experience allowed him to dodge sideways at the first explosion and flash of light knowing what was to follow. As he moved sideways and dropped into a roll a three-round burst from a military style MP-5 stitched the wall where his head had been. He fired two quick shots from the Kryptonite gun at his would be assassin and Maggie Sawyer went down from a bullet to her chest and another to her head.
Fortunately for her the bullets were made of Kryptonite rather than some more resilient metal and so the trauma plate in her vest protected her heart while her helmet survived its encounter with only a slight dent which translated into a headache for the SCU commander.
Seeing the ineffectiveness of the weapon against SCU body armor Slade returned it to his holster while removing and priming a grenade from his belt which he quickly tossed at the assault team to cover his escape as he dove through the remains of the main window.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
Over a dozen weapons came to bear on his position as he hit the ground outside the bank and rolled to his feet. Beneath his mask Slade flashed a wolfish grin at the surrounding police. This was his element and the danger of it was what truly made him feel alive. He raised his hands as if in surrender and the police relaxed for a second until they noticed the grenade each held. Before they could react Slade sent them in the direction of two police cars, which instantly exploded into fireballs.
As explosions made everyone dive for cover Wilson used the distraction to vault a police car and relieve an officer of his assault rifle, which he then began using to pin everyone down as he primed his last grenade and tossed it at another police cruiser. When that car exploded he turned and disappeared amid the smoke and confusion.
From her vantage point behind one of the few remaining intact police cars Lois watched Wilson make his escape. She then stood before the officer beside her realized what had happened and ran toward the bank. Lois wasn’t as foolhardy as many thought. She wasn’t above risking her life for a story, but she didn’t do so senselessly. Every risk she took was weighed out and carefully considered. She just did so a lot faster than most of the people around her she told herself smugly. Like in this case for instance, she was smart enough to know that since the chief bad guy had just headed in the opposite direction all gunfire had stopped inside the bank. The police obviously now had control, but since Superman hadn’t come out in pursuit of Wilson then something bad had happened inside and she wasn’t going to wait for some by the book police cadet to decide where she could or couldn’t go when Clark might need her.
Inside the bank Dan Turpin, Maggie’s second-in-command, helped her to her feet while the rest of the assault team secured the building.
“Clear!” one of the element leaders shouted from the lobby of the bank after all of the gunmen in that area had been secured.
The same shout echoed from other parts of the building as other teams circulated to ensure no surprises still lay in wait. In the mean time Maggie shrugged out of her vest with the green glowing bullet in it’s center and she and Turpin converged on Superman who had settled back against a wall trying to staunch the flow of blood that darkened his shirt front.
“Get that stuff out of here,” Maggie yelled indicating her vest and the Kryptonite rocks around the room, “and get a medic in here!”
“Oh my God,” Lois said as she drew up behind the two officers having jumped in through the window that Slade had left though moments before.
“Lane,” Maggie exclaimed turning in surprise toward the newcomer, “what the hell are you doing here? This area hasn’t been secured yet. Someone could have shot you coming in like that!”
“Hell, Maggie,” Lois said shouldering by the woman to drop down beside Superman, “your people recognize me faster than they recognize you. I wasn’t in any danger.”
“Stupid question first,” she continued now addressing the Man of Steel completely ignoring the police, “are you ok?”
“Ha,” Superman barked a short laugh. “Nothing a little trauma surgery and a minor miracle can’t fix.”
“Paramedics are on the way,” Maggie said kneeling down beside the man.
“How long?” Lois demanded.
“As fast as they can, Lane,” Maggie said glaring at the other woman. “You want to wait outside for them?”
“Ladies,” Superman said before Lois could utter whatever she had just opened her mouth to say, “not to sound ungrateful or impatient, but I can’t wait. Right now its even money if the radiation or blood loss will get me first. I have to do something now, so if I may…”
He pointed at the multi-tool in Sawyer’s leg side pocket.
“I need the needlenose pliers, please.”
“What?” Maggie said surprised. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin without causing more damage.”
“Not you,” he replied shaking his head. “Me.”
“There’s no way you can…”
She was interrupted by a sudden movement from Lois who had been looking back and forth between the two people and had quickly reached a decision. She grabbed the multi-tool from Maggie’s pocket and opened them to the pliers.
“Hey!” Maggie yelled.
“How can I help?” Lois asked ignoring the officer.
“Keep my head from bouncing off the floor when I pass out,” Superman said with a pained smile as he took the offered pliers.
Using his x-ray vision he could easily see the bullet. He could also trace the path it had made in his shoulder on the way in so it really was easy not to cause any more damage removing it. The trouble was that only he could see it and it was in his shoulder. This was going to hurt. He plunged the pliers into the wound and cried out in pain. Two pairs of hands instantly rose toward him to grab the pliers, but he shook his head. He gritted his teeth and concentrating on the bullet pushed in further. When he was close enough he grabbed the end of the projectile and began to slowly remove it. Once it was clear from his body his hand suddenly began to shake and he was no longer able to hold onto the pliers. They and the bullet slipped free from his hand and fell to the floor.
“Get this out of here!” Lois yelled quickly grabbing the bullet and handing it to Turpin who then ran out of the room.
The blood suddenly began to gush from the hole in Superman’s shoulder and Maggie pressed her hand hard against the wound trying to stop the bleeding.
“S-s-s-un-l-l-li…,” Superman stammered drunkenly as he tried to move sideways.
“What?” Maggie asked trying to press harder on his shoulder wound her hands now a bloody mess.
“Sunlight!” Lois suddenly yelled realizing what her partner had been trying to say and pointed in the direction that he had been trying to move. A ray of light streamed in through the broken window and bathed the floor.
The two women looked at each other and as if reading one another’s mind they moved to his head and feet and began to drag the now almost unconscious man toward the light. When they reached it the result was almost magic. As the light hit the shoulder the blood flow stopped immediately and then at an astounding rate the tissue began to knit itself. The two women actually watched the wound close and Superman’s expression lightened as the pain dispelled.
Sitting back on the floor Lois dropped her head and breathed a deep sigh of relief. After a second she looked back up at the semi-conscious form in front of her as he began to stir.
“Well, so much for breakfast,” she muttered.
**********
When Clark had fully regained consciousness he had given himself a quick scan to assure that he was generally intact if a bit sore. He asked for and received the Kryptonite that the SCU had recovered from the bank and securing them in a lead container hurled them toward the sun. That’s when he discovered that despite the solar energy he had absorbed he still wasn’t 100%.
“Aaaarrrggg!!!” he screamed as he pitched the lead case into the sky.
“Superman,” Lois asked moving to his side in concern, “what’s wrong?”
“My shoulder seems to be a bit more damaged than I’d originally thought.”
“And playing Cy Young just now probably didn’t help,” Maggie Sawyer said walking up beside them. “You didn’t have to get rid of the Kryptonite yourself you know. We could have disposed of it.”
“I’m sorry, Maggie,” Superman answered, “I’m afraid I’ve fallen victim to a friend’s paranoia. I didn’t even think to ask the police to do that. I just wanted rid of the blasted stuff.”
“I guess I can’t blame you,” Maggie answered. “If that stuff fried my insides like it does yours I’d probably feel the same way. Speaking of which, are you sure you don’t want to get checked out at Met U Hospital? You had that bullet inside you for awhile.”
“I’m sure, Maggie,” he answered. “I just need to soak up some more solar rays and I’ll be fine. Really, thank you both though. You saved my life.”
“Well, my multi-tool did anyway,” Maggie joked. “You think I could get much for it on eBay?”
Superman laughed and then slowly rose into the air. Lois watched him go with a critical and worried eye. When she had first discovered the truth Clark had seemed to suddenly become much more…well, “super”. Now that she’d had time to think about it though, it was Superman who seemed to have become more human. And that human was someone she cared about and she wasn’t as accepting that he’d just be “ok” because he said so. Clark didn’t always take care of himself like he should so she’d have to make sure he took it easy despite his best intentions.
Speaking of which, she told herself looking at her watch, she was supposed to be at his apartment right now. If she went on over he would probably rush to clean himself up and act like everything was normal. Probably hurting his shoulder even worse in the process. She knew she wouldn’t be able to convince him to take the day off without letting him know that she knew, but she could a least give him a bit of breathing room.
She pulled her cell phone from her purse and quickly dialed. After a few rings his answering machine picked up. Oh hell, now what do I do, she asked herself. Of course he wasn’t home yet, flying as slow as he was and since she was supposed to meet “Clark” at his apartment it would look suspicious if Lois Lane didn’t wonder why he wasn’t there waiting on her.
“Oh…er…Clark, it’s Lois,” she stammered thinking quickly, “I guess you’re probably in the shower. I’m sorry I’m late, but I ran into a story on the way to your place so I’m just going to head into The Planet and type it up. You can take your time. It’ll take me a bit to write it up anyway and I’ll tell you…”
“Lois,” Clark’s voice suddenly cut in on the line as he picked up.
“Oh,” Lois said surprised, “you’re home. I mean of course you’re home. You’re waiting on me. You’re just out of the shower. I mean…”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Lois,” Clark said laughing, “but yeah, I’m here and I did just get out of the shower. You got my place bugged or something?”
“In your dreams, Kent,” Lois responded quickly recovering. “It was just keen deductive reasoning. They probably didn’t teach that to you hayseeds at Littleville High.”
“Smallville, Lois. Say it with me, Small…”
“Spare me the geography lesson, farmboy” Lois said beginning to enjoy their banter. “You’ve seen one wide spot in the road you’ve seen them all.”
“Oh, you big city sophisticate, you,” Clark responded laughing. “So, what’s this big story that interrupts our breakfast.”
“Intergang just tried to assassinate Superman,” Lois responded wondering what Clark’s reaction really was to this morning’s debacle.
“What?!” he asked seeming surprised.
She really hadn’t appreciated what a good actor he was she though smiling to herself as she began to “fill him in” on the morning’s events.
“They couldn’t warn him off by kidnapping little Emily Rosen so they’ve decided to just kill him,” Clark said when she was finished.
“And they almost did,” she replied beginning to fully appreciate what had just happened.
“They’re trying to tie up all of their lose ends now that the knowledge of Intergang is public.”
“Which means Stuart may be next or even Styles,” Lois said.
“And us too, Lois,” Clark added. “Remember what Deadshot said when he first made the attempt on Maxwell? We’ve been on the list since he agreed to talk to us. Now that they’ve failed twice with him and twice with Superman they may move on down the list and make a run at one of us.”
“I can take care of myself, Smallville,” Lois said. “I’ll be safe enough at the Planet for the time being. You just hang out at your apartment and I’ll tell Perry you’re hiding out. I’ll run by later this afternoon and we can pay Styles a visit if Jimmy has tracked him down.”
“You’re trying awfully hard to keep me away from the Planet this morning, Lois,” Clark asked starting to feel suspicious. “What’s up?”
“I just figure that if you’re home you’re not around to step on my byline,” Lois replied figuring that was probably what she would have been thinking in this situation if she didn’t know the truth.
“Hmmmm,” he said as if pondering her comment, “good point. I’ll be right in.”
“Funny, Kent. Real funny,” Lois said dryly. “Seriously, stay at home. I’ll hurry and type this up and then come and get you. If Jimmy hasn’t found anything out I promise I’ll call you right away and you can come on in.”
“Or, I could come on in anyway and be there if he hasn’t found anything and leave straight from there with you if he has. That’ll be safer for the both of us.”
Lois sighed knowing a lost cause when she saw one.
“Just be careful,” she said in a small voice that surprised even her.
“I will partner,” Clark answered softening his tone. “See you in a few minutes.”
TBC…
